Wyandot County Visitors Bureau

As the end of the American Revolution approached, warfare continued in the backcountry of modern Ohio; British-allied Indians continued to harass the American settlers. In 1782, a regiment of Virginia soldiers was sent in reprisal to destroy Indian villages on the Sandusky River, under the command of William Crawford, a friend of victorious General George Washington. However, the Crawford expedition ended on June 4 after a skirmish south of modern-day Carey, and the Americans retreated. Colonel Crawford was captured by the Delaware after the battle, and seven days later he was tortured and burned at the stake on the banks of Tymochtee Creek in present-day northeastern Wyandot County.

 

As the centenary of the burning approached, a movement arose to commemorate Crawford's death with a monument. The movement's proponents were aroused by a strong sense of the incident's importance: besides being the earliest major event in Wyandot County history, it was the county's most prominent event of all time in their opinion. One of the county's leading lawyers, Curtis Berry, originated the idea of marking the site.

 

To read more about Crawford's life and his death,

click here.